Tim Hahn: Hope for good in bad times

Wednesday

Mar 7, 2018 at 2:01 AM

A hole was left in the Crawford County community of Conneautville when a fire gutted the Conneaut Valley Health Center and Valley Dental Center, just weeks after the borough's grocer/gas station closed.

I can relate to the pain that residents of the small borough of Conneautville are feeling.

A hole was left in the Crawford County community when an early-morning fire gutted the Conneaut Valley Health Center and Valley Dental Center last week. The fire broke out a few weeks after Conneautville's lone grocery store and gas station abruptly closed its doors.

"We're ready for some good news," Conneautville Mayor Allen Clark said on the morning of the fire.

Those kinds of losses can be crippling to small communities like Conneautville that dot the landscape of northwestern Pennsylvania. The Main Streets of these communities aren't as vibrant as they used to be, thanks to the growth of automobiles, highways, shopping malls and big-box stores. So the businesses that have stuck around, like a local grocery or a health center within walking distance, are precious commodities. And losing one really hurts.

I know this first-hand. My community of Cambridge Springs suffered for several years after a fire wiped out our lone grocery store in early 1998. Thanks to the efforts of many, a new grocery was built and opened in the spring of 2003. But the new store didn't last long and closed for good in early 2011.

Then in May, the biggest attraction in Cambridge Springs, the historic Riverside Inn, burned to the ground. The loss still hurts, many months after the last embers cooled.

But there is hope on the horizon. A young Crawford County couple who own a landscaping company and operate a maple products business purchased the Riverside Inn property and announced plans to advance another of their interests, brewing craft beer, by building a brewpub and restaurant on the site.

Piles of wood are starting to collect on the property in preparation for construction. On Saturday night, the new venture of Jason and Deanna Howles, the Riverside Brewing Co., had a "tap takeover" at Julian's Bar & Grill in Meadville, where varieties of their beer were sold.

My wife, daughter, son-in-law and I, already big fans of Julian's, decided to go and give the brews a try. We were blown away by how good the seven varieties of beer we sampled were. But we were more impressed with the huge crowd that turned out for the event. The sea of people included many fellow residents of Cambridge Springs, which made me feel good about the support Riverside Brewing Co. has at the start of its venture. It also has me believing that the community is overjoyed with what's rising from the ashes of our loss, and will be lining up to continue its support.

So keep the faith, Conneautville. Sometimes good things can arise from bad events.